Halal Pesa, everything you need to know about Safaricom’s Shariah compliant product

Kenyans have become accustomed to Safaricom’s Fuliza product to the extend its even hard to imagine those days when it didn’t exist. Mobile money services in Kenya have had their share of both criticism as well as credit, there’s so much evil and good associated with them in equal measure. With all these mixed reactions, one thing remains true, mobile money-based services have revolutionized how Kenyans transact daily. Halal Pesa is Safaricom’s response to introduce a product that is specifically designed to accommodate our Muslim brothers and sisters.

Unlike traditional overdraft facilities which attract all sorts of additional charges, Halal Pesa is designed to meet the requirements of Shariah but at the same time remain sustainable to both Safaricom and the Gulf African Bank which is its main partner on the service. The product is expected to earn Safaricom and the Gulf African Bank five percent in profit without attracting additional costs on the subscriber.

How Halal Pesa works

Just like the likes of Fuliza and M-Shwari, Safaricom subscribers with an MPESA account can easily sign-up for the service and stand to receive up to Ksh20,000, which is paid back with an additional 5 percent. Customers will then have to pay back within a span of 30 days. I’ts designed to be in line with other Islamic financial products which do not accrue interest but instead levy a margin or profit. This makes Halal Pesa more competitive than similar MPESA products such as M-Shwari loans which is a partnership between NCBA Bank and Safaricom. Current M-Shwari charges include a fee of 7.5 percent and 1.5 percent excise duty, although M-Shwari also allows clients to save money while Halal Pesa specializes on financing.

How to Access Halal Pesa credit facility

If you already are an MPESA user, then subscribing to the service should be a no-brainer. The service is available mini–App. Safaricom subscribers will initially be provided with a personalized facility limit based on their M-Pesa usage. And just like M-shwari and KCB-MPESA, the limit can be increased based on a customer’s usage of Halal Pesa. Halal Pesa can be accessed both as Mini App under the “Grow” option on the M-PESA Super App and by dialling *334# under “Loans and Savings”.